I quite remember the Jeremy Thorpe scandal as it was reported in the American
press in the 70s. This Very English Scandal played out for almost a decade and
a half.
What I found fascinating among certain things was the difference between how
Jeremy Thorpe was treated and how Oscar Wilde was over a half century earlier.
Wilde, not in Parliament and not likely to get into government was cast to the
wolves once his homosexuality was exposed. Thorpe on the other hand as you
will see throughout the film had the establishment ranks close behind him.
Thorpe was the leader of the Liberal Party, a tiny remnant of what it once was
before Labour in the 20s overtook it to be Great Britain's second party. It had
a dozen seats or so left, but in a closely divided House of Commons could
coalesce with one of the majors and make a government happen.
This was what Jeremy Thorpe was trying to do. But at some point in the mid
60s he met a young stableboy later renamed Norman Scott and the two of them had quite the affair. After a while Thorpe tired of him and the two broke
it off amicably. At least Thorpe thought so, but Scott who went on to be a male fashion model was a flighty sort. He had trouble holding a job and was
constantly badgering Thorpe for help, most discrete help. Thorpe helped a lot
over the years , but Scott's demands grew more incessant and soon Thorpe was
musing out loud about wanting to get rid of him permanently.
Some of the few in the Liberal Party who knew tried to help. But at this point
for a while I thought I was watching a British version of I Tonya. What a crew
he was gathered to help their leader out. Talk about the gang that coudldn't
shoot straight literally.
Hugh Grant is Jeremy Thorpe, the very picture of establishment privilege. Ben
Whishaw is Norman Scott for whom the weight of the United Kingdom seems to be falling upon him. The two complement each other beautifully in their
roles.
As for what happens, the establishment protects Jeremy Thorpe, but it comes
at a very big price.
Hopefully in this more enlightened where just today an openly gay Governor
of one our states was just inaugurated gay audiences can look at this and see
how far we've come.
Jeremy Thorpe has quite the story.
